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Almost all of their first record is embarrassingly awful. It's mostly just token '80s punk rock with typical punk rock lyrics and no direction. If you listen to it enough times, you can find a few songs that display what the band would later become (I'll Be Waiting comes immediately to mind), but for the most part, you can tell it's a bunch of kids who haven't really found their identity or groove, yet. I'd say there are probably five songs on that record, including Kill the President, that are absolutely unpalatable.

They write a lot of really solid punk material. Songs like Half-Truism, Hammerhead, the Noose, Lightning Rodů can't beat that. But at the same time, it seems like every record has one or two faceless throwaway punk tracks they added for some filler to prove they haven't "forgotten their roots" or whatever. I'm not a fan of Take It Like a Man, Something to Believe In, So Alone, All Along, Da Hui, or Trust in You. I didn't like basically anything I heard from Days Go By, either.

I also really like all of their more poppy, novelty songs. They're all catchy as hell, and if you realize a lot of them aren't meant to be taken too seriously, you'll find yourself having a pretty good time. But it IS hard to forget that sometimes when they throw in a song like Cruisin' California in a record full of pretty serious stuff. Original Prankster is the song that made me really like the Offspring, so I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for their pop-punk side. When Dexter Holland sits down and writes a pop-punk song, he's about the best in the business at it for my money. A lot of fans reject and try to vehemently deny the pop-punk label, but it's not a bad word or something. They're really good at it.